Fritz Reuter Leiber, Jr. (December 24, 1910 – September 5, 1992) was an American writer of fantasy, horror, and science fiction. He was also a poet, actor in theater and films, playwright and chess expert With writers such as Robert E. Howard and Michael Moorcock, Leiber can be regarded as one of the fathers of sword and sorcery fantasy. Moreover, he excelled in all fields of speculative fiction, writing award-winning work in fantasy, horror, and science fiction.
Shakespearean stage actor; later a film player for three decades until his death.
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On stage from 1902. Said to have enacted more than a hundred different Shakespearean roles.
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From 1929 to 1932, he directed and appeared with the Chicago Civic Shakespeare Company.
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Fritz Leiber, Sr., was the father of famed science fiction author, Fritz Leiber Jr. (who looked very much like his father).
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His son, SF writer Fritz Leiber Jr, wrote a funny (albeit confessional) story entitled "237 Talking Statues, etc.", inspired by his difficult relationship with his father, in which Francis LeGrand II is confronted by the statues and paintings of the title, all self-portraits of his father in various roles, with which he discusses his relationship with his father.
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He played many of the great Shakespeare roles on stage, including "King Lear" and "Hamlet". His only appearance in a Shakespearean role in a talking picture was a brief moment as Horatio in the final scene of what is supposed to be a London stage production of "Hamlet", from the 1937 film "The Great Garrick".
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In one of his first films, he played Mercutio in a silent version of Romeo and Juliet (1916).